ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Railways
Indian Railways operationalises 3274 “Shramik Special” trains till 25th May, 2020 across the country and transports more than 44 lacs passengers to their home states through “Shramik Special” trains in 25 days
Distributes more than 74 lakh free meals and more than 1 crore water bottles to travelling migrants
Trains running today are not facing any congestion
In addition to Shramik Specials, Railways are running 15 pairs of special trains connecting New Delhi from 12th May and plans to start 200 more time tabled trains on 1st June
Subsequent to the Ministry of Home Affairs order regarding movement of migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stranded at different places by special trains, Indian Railways had decided to operate “Shramik Special” trains form 1st May 2020.
As on 25th May 2020, a total of 3274 “Shramik Special” trains have been operationalized from various states across the country. More than 44 lacs passengers have reached their home state by these “Shramik Special” trains. On 25.05.2020, 223 Shramik Specials were moving 2.8 lacs passengers.
IRCTC distributed more than 74 lakh free meals and more than 1 crore water bottles to travelling migrants.
It may be noted that trains running today are not facing any congestion.
In addition to Shramik Specials, Railways are running 15 pairs of Special Trains connecting New Delhi and plans to start 200 more time tabled trains on 1st June.
Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
Progress of area coverage under summer crops
The Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare has released progress of area coverage data under summer crops as on 2nd June 2023.
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Sl.
No.
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Crops
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Area Sown: In Lakh hectare
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Current Year 2023
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Last Year 2022
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1
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Rice
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28.51
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30.33
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2
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Pulses
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19.86
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19.11
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a
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Greengram
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16.35
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15.58
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b
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Blackgram
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3.26
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3.25
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c
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Other Pulses
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0.25
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0.29
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3
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Shri Anna -cum -Coarse Cereals
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12.10
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11.73
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a
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Jowar
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0.29
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0.25
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b
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Bajra
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4.80
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3.99
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c
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Ragi
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0.14
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0.21
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d
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Maize
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6.86
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7.28
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4
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Oilseeds
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10.26
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11.11
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a
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Groundnut
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5.00
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5.51
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b
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Sunflower
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0.32
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0.31
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c
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Sesamum
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4.61
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4.52
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d
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Other Oilseeds
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0.32
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0.77
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Total
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70.74
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72.28
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Export of Cardamom
The Government of Saudi Arabia and Japan have not banned import of cardamom from India. However, Saudi Arabia Food & Drug Authority  had detained four import consignments of cardamom  from India due to the detection of pesticide residue above the Maximum Residue Level  specified by the SFDAin April-May 2018. Thereafter, the exporters have voluntarily stopped export of cardamom to Saudi Arabia, fearing detention due to pesticide residue.
The Government, through the Spices Board, is conducting a series of campaigns in the cardamom growing areas in India to popularize the Integrated Pest Management  practices in cardamom among the cardamom growers and also promote the use of bio-control agents for managing pests and diseases in cardamom.
Saudi Arabia Foreign Ministry vide Note Verbale dated 9/10/2018 requested the Indian side to provide accreditation details of the laboratories where tests are undertaken for pesticide residues in cardamom before exporting to Saudi Arabia and the list of leading exporters and establishments exporting cardamom to Saudi Arabia, which were provided through the Indian Embassy at Riyadh on 9th August, 2018 by the Spices Board. It was also requested to enclose Laboratory Analysis Certificate confirming MRL compliance specified by the SFDA issued by the Spices Board for pesticide residues in cardamom with each export consignment of cardamom. To comply with this requirement of SFDA, the list of pesticides tested by SFDA in respect of small cardamom has been obtained. Out of 41 pesticides tested by SFDA, Spices Board’s Quality Evaluation Laboratory at Kochi has standardized 27 pesticides for testing and the remaining pesticides are being standardized.
A delegation from Saudi Arabia Food and Drug Authority  had visited Spices Board's Quality Evaluation Laboratory in Kochi, spices export processing units and cardamom plantation in December, 2018 and had discussion with the Spices Board's officials. The delegation requested the Board to send the details of pesticides used in cardamom by the Indian farmers so that testing can be done for the same pesticides in cardamom before exporting to Saudi Arabia. The details were provided to the SFDA through the Indian Embassy on 19th February, 2019. The Spices Board has been advised to draw up a work plan immediately to address the issue of pesticide residue in cardamom to resume the export of cardamom to Saudi Arabia.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Electronics & IT
Task force constituted to improve internet connectivity in Karnataka districts by MeitY
During the recent 6 district Jan Ashirwad Yatra in Karnataka by Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State in Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology  at direction of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi , there were numerous requests in improving speed and access of Internet Connectivity in some parts of each district. Minister had promised a MeitY taskforce would be sent to study the same in each district.
In response to this commitment, a MeitY taskforce consisting of officers of National Internet Exchange of India  and Software Technology Parks of India has swiftly commenced their visit and work. They will visit each district and meet people. They will also visit State government officials and submit a report to Minister.
One of policy priorities of PM Narendra Modi government is to connect all Indians and ensuring the benefits of Digital India program reach every Indian directly.
Ministry of Culture
Govt of India is Celebrating 550th birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Devji this year-Shri Prahlad Singh Patel
Union Cabinet in its meeting held on 22.11.2018 decided to celebrate 550th birth anniversary of Shri Guru Nanak Devji at national and international level for a period of one year from November, 2018 to November, 2019. Inaugural function for the commemoration was held on 23.11.2018 at Sultanpur Lodhi, Punjab. Decisions taken in the meeting are as under:
 Development of Kartarpur corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district, Punjab to the international border. Foundation stone for the project was laid by Hon’ble Vice President on 26.11.2018.
 Development of historic town of Sultanpur Lodhi as a heritage town on the Smart City principles.
 Upgradation of Sultanpur Lodhi railway station with all the modern amenities and run a train passing through various holy places associated with Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, for pilgrims and tourists.
 Release of Commemorative Coin and postage stamps.
 Setting up of a Centre for Inter Faith Studies at Guru Nanak Dev University,
Amritsar and to organize an International Seminar on the life and teachings of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
 To set up Chairs on Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji in one University each in UK and Canada.
 States/UTs to celebrate 550th Birth Anniversary of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji in a befitting manner. Religious activities like Kirtan, Katha, Prabhat Pheri, Langar etc. to be organised throughout the country, especially at Gurdwaras and places associated with Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
 Doordarshan to arrange live telecast of programmes on Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji and the Gurbani.
 National Book Trust to publish Gurbani in different Indian Languages. UNESCO to translate and publish anthology of Shri Guru Nanak Devji’s writings in world languages.
 Indian Missions overseas to organise special events to commemorate the 550th anniversary of the birth of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
Separate funds have not been allocated for the purpose. It was decided in the meeting of Union Cabinet that financial implications of the proposals will be met by the respective Ministries from their allocated budget.
This information was given by the Minister of State  of Culture and Tourism, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Defence
Aatmanirbhar Bharat: MoD inks two contracts with BEL, worth Rs 2,400 crore, for procurement of Automated Air Defence Control & Reporting System ‘Project Akashteer’ for Indian Army & Sarang Electronic Support Measure systems for Indian Navy
Rs 3,000 crore contract signed with NewSpace India Limited for an Advanced Communication Satellite for Indian Army
In yet another boost to ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in defence, Ministry of Defence, on March 29, 2023, signed three contracts – two with Bharat Electronics Limited , Ghaziabad and one with NewSpace India Limited  – at a total cost nearly Rs 5,400 crore, to bolster the defence capabilities of the country. The first contract with BEL pertains to procurement of Automated Air Defence Control & Reporting System ‘Project Akashteer’ worth Rs 1,982 crore for the Indian Army. The second contract with BEL relates to acquisition of Sarang Electronic Support Measure  systems along with associated Engineering Support Package from BEL, Hyderabad at an overall cost of Rs 412 crore for the Indian Navy.
The contract with NSIL, a Central Public Sector Enterprise under Department of Space, Bengaluru pertains to procurement of an advanced Communication Satellite, GSAT 7B, which will provide High Throughput Services to the Indian Army at an overall cost of Rs 2,963 crore. All these projects are under Buy {Indian – IDMM } category.
Project Akashteer
The Automated Air Defence Control & Reporting System ‘Project Akashteer’ will empower the Air Defence units of the Indian Army with an indigenous, state-of-the-art capability, to effectively operate in an integrated manner. Akashteer will enable monitoring of low level airspace over the battle areas of Indian Army and effectively control the Ground Based Air Defence Weapon Systems.
Sarang systems
Sarang is an advanced Electronic Support Measure system for helicopters of the Indian Navy, designed and developed indigenously by Defence Electronics Research Laboratory, Hyderabad under programme Samudrika. The scheme will generate an employment of approximately two lakh man-days over a period of three years.
Both the projects will encourage participation of Indian Electronics and associated industries, including MSMEs, who are sub vendors of BEL.
Advanced Communication Satellite
The satellite will considerably enhance the communication capability of the Indian Army by providing mission critical beyond line of sight communication to troops and formations as well as weapon and airborne platforms. The geostationary satellite, being a first-of-its-kind in the five-tonne category, will be developed indigenously by Indian Space Research Organisation .
Many parts and sub-assemblies and systems will be sourced from indigenous manufacturers, including MSMEs and start-ups, thereby giving a fillip to the private Indian space industry, in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. The project will generate an employment of approximately three lakh man-days over a period of three and half years.
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Ministry of Finance
DRI to celebrate 62nd Founding Day tomorrow
6th Regional Customs Enforcement Meeting  to be held on the occasion
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence  is celebrating its 62nd Founding Day on the 4th of December, 2019. The two-day event scheduled for 4th -5th December, 2019 will be inaugurated by the Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman along with the Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs Shri Anurag Singh Thakur.
For more than six decades, DRI with its presence across India and abroad has been carrying out its mandate of countering organised crime groups engaged in smuggling of contraband goods such as arms, ammunitions & explosives, narcotic drugs& psychotropic substances, gold & diamonds, counterfeit currency notes, wildlife items, hazardous & environmentally sensitive materials and antiques. DRI also has expertise in unearthing commercial frauds, plugging leakage of Government’s tax revenue and countering trade based money laundering and black money. DRI has also been at the forefront in international Customs collaboration and has Customs Mutual Assistance Agreements with over 60 other countries, where thrust is on information exchange and learning from the best practices of other Customs administrations.
Accordingly, DRI takes the opportunity of its founding day to also organise Regional Customs Enforcement Meeting for effectively engaging with partner Customs organisations and International agencies like World Customs Organisation, INTERPOL for enforcement related issues.
This year, 21 Customs administrations covering the Asia-Pacific region along with international organisations such as Interpol, UN Office on Drugs and Crime  and Regional Intelligence Liaison Office – Asia Pacific  have been invited to the event. This meeting comes in the backdrop of the heightened trafficking of the huge quantities of heroin noticed in the Indian Ocean Region.
Prime Minister's Office
PM expresses grief over the derailment of Utkal Express
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed grief over the derailment of the Utkal Express in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. The Prime Minister informed that the situation is being monitored very closely, and that the Railways Ministry and UP Government are doing everything possible and providing all assistance required.
“Extremely pained by the derailment of the Utkal Express in Muzaffarnagar. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased.
I wish those injured a speedy recovery. The situation is being monitored very closely by the Railways Ministry.
Railways Ministry and UP Government are doing everything possible and providing all assistance required in the wake of the train derailment”, the Prime Minister said.
Ministry of Law and Justice
PRESS COMMUNIQUE
Vide Notification of even number dated 06.09.2021, in exercise of the power conferred by clause  of Article 217 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint S/Shri 1) Neranahalli Srinivasan Sanjay Gowda  Miss Jyoti Mulimani  Rangaswamy Nataraj  Hemant Chandangoudar  Pradeep Singh Yerur and  Maheshan Nagaprasanna, Additional Judges of the Karnataka High Court, to be Judges of the Karnataka High Court with effect from the date they assume charge of their respective offices.
Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
Shri Sonowal inaugurates Remote Competence Examination for Seafarers; Says, India is emerging as a world leader in the maritime sector
Union Minister for Ports, Shipping & Waterways and AYUSH, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal has said that the Government is striving to improve the quality of Indian Seafarers and make their life comfortable. Speaking at the release of Navik Jeevan and launch of Online Competency based Examination through VC mode in New Delhi today, he informed that this is happening for the first time in the world, and assured to work for development of shipping, ports seafarers training, and ultimately emerging as a world leader in the maritime sector. The Minister recalled the vision of the Prime Minister, which has been embodied in the Maritime India Vision 2030 launched by him in March 2021.
Shri Sonowal said, India is one of the largest seafarer supplying nation and our seafarers are in great demand internationally. He expressed hope that the stakeholders will take appropriate measures to address the issues raised in the report.
Acknowledging the increased focus on the human element in shipping, the Directorate General of Shipping took the initiative to conduct exhaustive research to study the issues related faced by seafarers. The project was done by Indian National Shipowners’ Association and funded by Maritime Training Trust and covered more than 5000 respondents including nearly 100 female seafarers. The analysis of the survey data, published in this report, Navik Jeevan -A Survey on the life of Indian seafarers and Pre-sea students, highlighted some of very important and critical issues, related to employment, training, discrimination, harassment, fatigue, stress, motivation, happiness, safety, environment, working on board etc., where the shipping companies, maritime training institutes and the administration would need to make some improvements.
The Online Certificate of Competency Examination is a fully digital Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning powered online examination system which uses remote proctoring and powerful security and surveillance tools built to ensure a fair, transparent and secure examination system.
Addressing the gathering the Director General of Shipping, Shri Amitabh Kumar said, we are launching the first ever written examination for certificate of competency using a Remote Digital Proctoring mechanism. We are certainly amongst the first in the world for any leading maritime nation to introduce such a system.
Dr. Sanjeev Ranjan, Secretary Ports, Shipping and Waterways, in his address stated that one of the objectives of the Maritime India Vision 2030 was to ‘Digitize and upgrade CoC assessment mechanism of seafarers by 2022’, including End-End Digitization of CoC assessment.
Prime Minister's Office
PM lauds the efforts of people towards the revival of Jabalpur's ancient Sangram Sagar
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has praised the efforts of people towards the revival of Jabalpur's ancient Sangram Sagar. He said that the people's shramdaan for the revival of Jabalpur's ancient Sangram Sagar is highly commendable. Shri Modi was responding to the tweet thread by Jabalpur MP, Shri Rakesh Singh wherein Member of Parliament, Shri Singh has informed that he has inspected Sangram Sagar with public representatives, Jabalpur Collector and Municipal Commissioner for the beautification of surroundings of Sangram Sagar.
The Prime Minister tweeted;
“जबलपुर के प्राचीन संग्राम सागर के पुनरोद्धार के लिए लोगों के श्रमदान का यह प्रयास बहुत ही प्रशंसनीय है।”
Ministry of Railways
Revenue from Advertisements and Platform Tickets in Railways
Rs. 139.20 crore were earned from the sale of platform tickets in the year 2018-19. Further, Rs.78.50 crore were earned from sale of platform tickets, up to September, 2019 during 2019-20.
Rs. 230.47 crore were earned from advertisements and shops including those on platforms in the year 2018-19. Rs.128.40 crore were earned from advertisement and shops including those on platforms up to September, 2019 during 2019-20.
As per the extant policy, contracts for shops and advertisements are awarded after open competitive bidding. The rates are outcome of the competition during the bid. However, in order to ensure minimum revenue, the bidding is done after finalizing minimum licence fee and the quotes are to be submitted above the same.
This information was given by the Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
Prime Minister's Office
PM invites ideas for Mann Ki Baat
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has invited people to share the thoughts on themes and issues that matter to them for upcoming episode of Mann ki Baat. The ideas can be shared through MyGov, Namo App, or dial the number 1800-11-7800 to record the message.
The 88th episode of Mann Ki Baat will take place on 24th April 2022.
Sharing MyGov invitation, the Prime Minister tweeted;
"Through #MannKiBaat we celebrate the extraordinary feats of grassroots level change-makers. Do you know of such inspiring life journeys? Share them for this month’s programme on the 24th. Write on MyGov, NaMo App or dial 1800-11-7800 to record a message."
Ministry of Education
AICTE and BPRD Jointly Launch KAVACH-2023, a National Level Hackathon to tackle cyber threats and provide effective solutions
Advancing India’s cyber-preparedness, KAVACH-2023, a national level hackathon was launched today to identify innovative ideas and technological solutions for addressing the cyber security and cybercrime challenges of the 21st century.
While addressing media, Dr. T G Sitharam, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education , said that KAVACH-2023 is a unique kind of national hackathon jointly conducted by MoE’s Innovation Cell, AICTE, Bureau of Police Research and Development  and Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre  to identify innovative ideas and technological solutions for addressing the cyber security and cybercrime challenges of the 21st century faced by our Law Enforcement Agencies and common citizens.
Speaking the occasion Shri Balaji Srivastava, IPS, Director General, Bureau of Police Research and Development , said that it will be a 36-hours long event, during which youth from educational institutions across the country and registered start-ups will participate to find robust, secure and effective technological solutions for cyber security by using their technical expertise & innovative skills. It will advance the blockage of cyber security crimes with a robust system monitoring and safety provisions, he added.
Shri Abhay Jere, Vice Chairman, AICTE, informed that KAVACH-2023 will be conducted in two phases. In the first phase, the problem statements, grouped into various buckets such as Fake News/social media, Dark web, Women safety, Phishing Detection, Video analytics/CCTV, Obscene Content Detection, Spam Alert, and Malware Analysis/Digital Forensics shall be posed to the public. Willing participants are expected to develop digital solutions for the statements using robust technologies like Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality, etc. and submit their concepts on the portal of Kavach-2023, he added.
Shri Rajesh Kumar, IPS, CEO, Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre  during the launch of this Hackathon stated the importance of this Hackathon given the age of digital crimes. He said that the Grand finale of KAVACH-2023 will be a 36-hours long mega event, during which selected youths from educational institutions across the country and registered start-ups will participate to find robust, secure and effective technological solutions using their knowledge, technical expertise and innovative skills. Total prize money worth Rs. 20 Lakh will be awarded to the winning teams, he added.
Smt. Rekha Lohani, IPS, Director, MoD informed that the concepts so submitted by participants will be evaluated by a group of domain experts and the most innovative ideas will be selected during the second phase which shall culminate with Grand Finale, selected participants will be expected to demonstrate their solutions for ascertaining technical feasibility and implementability of their solutions. Best ideas will be declared winners by the jury.
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
Shri Nitin Gadkari calls upon public private collaboration for reducing road accidents and improving road safety
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkarihas said public private collaboration and continuous efforts will help in reducing road accidents in the country and improve road safety. Addressing awebinar on Private Financing for Road safety he called upon the private sector to contribute in creating social consciousness, social awareness and social responsibility towards road safety and utilize their corporate social responsibility CSR fund to address all concerns of road safety. Shri Gadkari reiterated commitment to achieve of 50 percent of reduction of road deaths by 2025 and zero accident related fatalities in the countryby 2030.
The Minister said road accidents put social economic burden on society and nation as a whole and urged all private sector entities to proactively come forward for development of social bonds.He said the corpus generated with social contribution would be effectively used to finance projects such as zero fatality and other road safety strategies on national scale .
View Full details https://youtu.be/A12cxIjSLeQ